Principal/Lead Mission Designer (Campaign)

Summary 

As Principal/Lead Mission Designer (Campaign), you will help build and standardize the craft-quality for single-player campaign missions. You will shape critical path and side missions that deliver compelling storytelling and engaging action gameplay within an open-world setting. Combining strategic leadership with hands-on design expertise, you will pair directly with the existing mission leadership to build mission experiences in-editor along with driving the standards, systems, and creative ambition that define the missions experience. 

Core Responsibilities 

• Pair with existing mission leadership to provide direction, mentorship, and constructive feedback to mission designers, helping elevate the quality of the work and the craft across the team. 
• Partner closely with narrative leadership and other disciplines to improve the flow, structure, and execution of the main story campaign. 
• Collaborate with senior creative and development leadership to establish priorities, resolve complex design challenges, and ensure the campaign delivers on its creative ambitions. 
• Lead through both vision and execution, remaining hands-on with mission design and contributing directly to the playable experience. 
• Work with minimal information to bring complex narrative concepts to life within the context of an engaging mission experience. 
• Challenge the status quo and demonstrate understanding of where open-world mission design can change and where it’s already working. 
• Champion innovative approaches to storytelling, gameplay, pacing, and player agency that deliver best-in-class mission design. 
• Identify opportunities to leverage open-world systems and mechanics to create dynamic, interconnected missions that respond to player choices and actions. 
• Work with co-development partners across multiple time zones to establish consistent standards of communication that keep the mission team aligned. 
• Partner with production to accurately problem-solve and assess scope across a variety of missions to help mission designers succeed. 
• Champion a culture of creative collaboration, experimentation, iteration, and continuous improvement across the mission design team. 

Core Qualifications 

• 8+ years of experience in mission design, with a track record of contributing to or leading the development of high-quality AAA games. 
• Deep expertise in mission design, including a strong understanding of mission structure, pacing, and the relationship between narrative and gameplay. 
• Expert knowledge of action mission principles including encounter design, combatant behaviors and level design/layout requirements. 
• Demonstrated ability to establish and communicate a creative vision, influence design direction, and drive complex work from concept through implementation. 
• Strong understanding of storytelling and narrative design, particularly within open-world, single-player experiences. 
• Experience providing creative direction, mentorship, and guidance to other designers, whether through formal people management or senior individual contributor leadership. 
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to build alignment across multidisciplinary teams. 
• A strong creative point of view, paired with flexibility and judgment to evolve ideas through collaboration and iteration. 

Plus If... 

• Experience leading or mentoring multidisciplinary mission design teams on AAA productions. 
• Experience shipping multiple AAA titles, particularly story-driven, open-world games. 
• Experience designing missions that make meaningful use of systemic gameplay and player-driven experiences. 
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4 or 5. 
• Experience working with external co-development partners. 
• Experience establishing mission design workflows, best practices, and standards across a development team. 

Description   

• Full time job with benefits   
• Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA  
• Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways  

The base pay range for this position is $160,000 to $190,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including paid time off, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.